Catia 3DXML (again)

[mantielero]

I am pretty new to FreeCAD. I have been using it and stopping using it for some time. But this last month I felt I did some useful stuff in it (my bad on understanding its philosophy at the begining).

One of the things that prevents me most from using it even more is interoperability with Catia. I think there are already some posts about this. In particular reading 3DXML. I have even tried to implement it myself. The 3DXML spec is here. It is just a ZIP file, when plenty of files in it. There is an XML which describes the hierarchy, but later it uses CGR (Catia Graphical Representation) files that I don't find its spec (is it closed source?).

I find other tools from different vendors (not from Dassault) that support it. For example, 3DJuump ACE or CrossManager. How can they do it?

Is there any plan to support some propietary formats from major vendors?

[wmayer]

There is an open-source application that seems to support the 3dxml format:
http://www.glc-player.net/
http://www.glc-lib.net/

Further links:
https://www.goermezer.de/converter-know ... packt.html

You can check if the glc player can load your file.

[fcaduser]

Should time be invested for interoperability with proprietary formats ? Although I know Catia is massively used in prominent engineering fields.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAD_data_exchange

[Zolko]

Is there any plan to support some propietary formats from major vendors?

There is an open-source application that seems to support the 3dxml format:
http://www.glc-lib.net/

if it's already available and with a compatible license (LGPL) I think it would be a very (very very) useful feature. The GLC page is from 2011 though ...

I've written a mail to Laurent Ribon (laumaya@users.sourceforge.net) with a link to this thread, let's see if he answers.

Hello Laurent,

you have written the GLC-lib software to read Catia 3DXML files (http://www.glc-lib.net/) but that page hasn't been updated since 2011.

I'm a FreeCAD user, and it would be nice if FreeCAD could support 3DXML files. There is a discussion on the forum about this possibility (https://forum.freecadweb.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=46886).

Do you still maintain GLC-lib ?
Is there any chance that you would help in porting this library to FreeCAD ? They both have the same LGPL license.

Best regards,

Zoltan
(Zolko @ FreeCAD)

[keithsloan52]

I went to a SolidWorks workshop a while back and have a vague memory that that they 'Dassault System' had in effect bought out the 3DXML stuff. i.e. It stopped being developed and they bought in house see https://www.3ds.com/3ds-passport/downloads/ Obviously the file spec is still valid. The forum posts for it are well out of date. The Website says available in Mac App Store and it no longer is.

The 3D XML player is available for Windows at https://www.3ds.com/products-services/3d-xml/downloads/

[Zolko]

I've written a mail to Laurent Ribon (laumaya@users.sourceforge.net) with a link to this thread, let's see if he answers.

he did answer (that was fast) :

Hello Zoltan,

> Do you still maintain GLC-lib ?
I still maintain GLC_lib for my own usage. I use GLC_lib at work to develop proprietary 3D application.

> Is there any chance that you would help in porting this library to FreeCAD ? They both have the same LGPL license.
Sorry, I’m too busy.

Regards.

which doesn't prevent "us" to do it from the source code.

[Pauvres_honteux]

Ooohh, this is really interesting!
3Dxml being the second most compressed triangle approximated surface representation on the planet, second only to JT (Jupiter Tessellation)

If it would be possible to reverse engineer 3Dxml we would be a few quantum leaps closer to a really small foot print assembly file format!
Is it possible? Please type yes!
Creating something like 3Dxml, that is.

[keithsloan52]

Thing is 3D XML is really a mesh format - Okay for viewing but not sure how useful it would be for interoperability with FreeCAD.
Surely the best way to interchange things with CATIA and FreeCAD is via step or iges.

Not familiar with exactly what CATIA can do but worth checking https://grabcad.com/questions/how-can-i ... -etc-files

If you have smooth shapes like cars etc maybe CATIA can export as 3dm. @Chris_G recently did some work on the Open3DM python library and I updated the OpenNURBS workbench ( OpenNURBS was originally only available as C++ lib )

see https://github.com/KeithSloan/ImportNURBS

Whilst there are a number of workbench that deal with Nurbs not sure how current most of them are.

[Pauvres_honteux]

... 3D XML is ... for viewing ...
Surely the best way to interchange things with CATIA and FreeCAD is via step or iges.

Not familiar with exactly what CATIA can do...

The problem with Dassault / CATIA is that they really don't want you to utilize the general STP-format cuz then you could use a cheaper CAD-program for creating stuff and only transfer it to CATIA without the need of paying through your nose for a gazillion licenses! And because of this they charge a mind boggling high fee for a STEP-license which is, as we all know, an open source format !!!

The .iges-format creates non-connected surfaces out of everything and the resulting file becomes ludicrously huge, for basically nothing!!!

Reading these formats is of course a "nice-to-have-feature" but I'd be hard pressed to type it's a mandatory thing.

Their CGR-file format is a very dense packed surface approximation triangulated format that is fantastic for huge assemblies (evolved from the ancient .vrml-format). Having something like that as a FreeCAD-assy viewing format would be a killer!

Note it must be as a separate file. The system shall create this ultra light weight format for each and every file in parallel in the background when saving the "normal" file (.FCStd)

[keithsloan52]

Their CGR-file format is a very dense packed surface approximation triangulated format that is fantastic for huge assemblies (evolved from the ancient .vrml-format). Having something like that as a FreeCAD-assy viewing format would be a killer!

Note it must be as a separate file. The system shall create this ultra light weight format for each and every file in parallel in the background when saving the "normal" file (.FCStd)

Have you looked at MeshLab or Blender? Personally I prefer MeshLab.

I think MeshLab will open 3DXML files.